Summoner of the Void
by Shadow Nadri
Summary: With no memories of who she was, Nadri was left in the care of the Institute of War and was inducted as a summoner since she had no where else to go and what was the purpose of Malzahar's ritual with the Void have to do with her? M for extreme violence in later chapters.
1. 01: What's left

Summoner of the Void

1: What's Left

It was pitch black. No, she was blind folded as well as bound and gagged to the dusty floor below her. Chanting could be heard near by accompanied by screams of pain. The guy next to her was pleading to be let go, but the next thing she heard from him was a high pitched yelp of pain as he was kicked and dragged away.

What was going on? How did she end up like this and where was she? She couldn't recall anything as a fresh scream torn through the air, people cheering at the pain the poor fellow was going through. "Yet another has failed to pass." A voice sounded as the girl struggled a bit against the binds, but to no avail. "Bring the next one!"

With that, she felt someone grab at her upper arm and pulled her to her feet as she stumbled blindly across the uneven ground and was tossed onto of what she felt was a stone block of some sort. With her body fully exposed, she felt the lingering warm blood of the last person that was on this alter of sorts as she shuddered in fear of what is to come. Her hands were unbound and rebounded above her head as they stretched her out along the length of the slab. A gloved hand slowly caressed up the center of her body, making her shake in fear as she tried to scream through the gag.

"Such a perfect body, will you be it's host?" A man mused above her, his voice sounding very ethereal to her ears as she shook her head side to side in protest. "If that's true, then you'll be added to the Void." He told her as she felt a sharp edge of a blade gently cutting into her skin around her body, making her writhe in pain. The person above her was carving symbols into her body, letting small trickles of blood run down her sides as she felt the blind fold holding her tears in her eyes. He added even more to her as he sliced smaller grooves into her arms and legs as well before laughing softly to himself.

She was going to die. Her body was slowly losing blood which, in turn was making it harder for her to stay warm. She felt a hand caress her face gently then removed her gag from her mouth, allowing her groan loudly at the small stabs of pain that spiked all over her body. The hand never left her face as it moved down to her chin and slowly pulled her mouth open and a moment later, she noticed something slip inside and slide down her throat and up into her mind. Something cackled inside her mind and gripped at her heart as she writhed uncontrollably from the intrusion. The intruder was showing her visions of Runeterra being consumed by the Void and those that supported it will be able to live along side the creatures of the Void, as long as they know how to survive the new harsh reality of this world.

The pressure she was feeling kept expanding inside of her, almost like it'll tear her apart from the inside as she cried out in horror. What she was feeling was magic that she couldn't quite grasp or understand as it explored every fiber of her being. She pulled hard against the binding, trying to curl up and dampen the pain, but it only served to mare the skin around her wrists as more blood curdling screams issued from her mouth. "Hmm, seems the Void is taking it's time with you." The man above her whispered in her ear as she continued to cry out in pain. Taking it's time? It was driving her over the edge as she struggle against the binds once more.

"P-please…" She managed to gasp out between fits of screams. A gloved hand was petting her face softly, slowly slipping a finger under the blind fold and lifted it off her eyes as she saw the man that seeks to kill her if she didn't pass the 'test'.

"I'll please you once the Void is done testing you. Assuming you survive." The man muttered softly as he wiped away her tears as they leaked uncontrollably from her eyes. The man looking down at her, why did he seem so familiar to her? Another scream ripped through her as she felt the magic of the Void pull once more at what she thought to be her soul.

It was becoming unbearable, the magic was doing it's best to make it as painful as possible, but somehow, she wasn't losing her mind as she once thought. In fact, she started to manipulate small portions of it to lessen the pain from the cuts in her skin. The man noticed her reactions starting to change as well and smirked under his scarf. He moved to undo the ties on her wrists, letting them fall limp at her sides as she slowly whined down from the screaming. "It seems you've passed. I welcome you to my cult." He announced to the crowd she forgot about as they cheered.

A moment past during the welcoming speech as some of the cheers became screams as she heard bodies falling to the ground just feet away from her. The oddly dressed man beside her floated up slightly then cackled lightly. "Come to join me at last, Kassadin?" He asked the new comer. The girl turned her head to see a even more oddly dressed man, wearing what looked like a cross between a scuba helmet and a demonic mask on his head and a long mage battle skirt of sorts.

Kassadin didn't say a word, but he shot a purple sphere at the man next to her, silencing him as he vanished and reappeared next to him, knocking the head cultist away from the stone slab the girl laid upon. The masked man looked down at the girl, who was breathing pretty heavily from the ordeal, then looked back at the man he knocked away. "What did you do to this child, Malzahar?" He questioned the cultist, but only got a maniacal laugh in return

"She's been reborn as a carrier for the Void, much like ourselves." He told the void walker as a sound of disproval sounded from him. Glancing between Malzahar and the girl, Kassadin saw that she didn't have much time left, even if she is now like them. The blood loss will soon cause her to go into cardiac arrest if treatment wasn't given to her and soon. As much as stopping Malzahar was a priority, this child's life suddenly seemed more important as Kassadin scooped up the shivering child and rift walked away from the scene, leaving Malzahar to laugh uncontrollably behind at the ritual site. "Yes, Kassadin, save the girl. She'll soon come to me in time."

* * *

Kassadin kept moving, holding tightly to the naked girl in his arms as he felt the blood start to crust in his hands and listened to the girl's breathing become fast and shallow. She was extremely pail and cold in his arms. Not much time was left. With a few more jumps through the rifts, he quickly glided up the steps to the Institute of War. He stopped for no one, not even for the Adjudicators that wanted to question why he was carrying an unclothed, bloodied up girl in his grasp as he made his way to the infirmary hospital wing.

"Kassadin! What in the world happened?" Exclaimed Nurse Akali as she spotted him shifting into being in the middle of the infirmary, shocking many of the summoners and herself at the sight he made. He motioned to the girl in his arms as she gasped at the sight of all the cuts and blood that stuck to the girl's skin. "Take her into the back, I'll get Shen." Without another thought, he flashed to where she indicated and placed the girl on a examination table and watched as her breathing kept hitching as she was now sleeping from the loss of blood and energy. He vaguely wondered how much of this she'll remember as he heard the rush of footsteps behind him as Shen in his surgeon's outfit and Akali walked in, bring with them all the equipment needed to stabilize the girl and hopefully return her to a functional state.

Shen motioned for Kass to leave while they started hooking her up to get some donated blood into her system and cleaned up the wounds all over her. He was worried, but that wasn't going to help her as he glided to a nearby restroom to wash off the blood that covered his hands and chest from carrying her. After washing up, he sat in the waiting area in silence, watching patients and their guests chat away the time as he waited on news of the girl he didn't even know.

It was a couple hour before Akali came to find him as he glanced at the ninja nurse from the corner of his eye. "She was badly cut up and lost a lot of blood, but she'll be alright." She told him as he nodded slightly at the news. "She's currently in a deep sleep and won't wake for maybe a couple days at least." Kassadin rose from his seat and moved towards the exit. Akali watched him leave the infirmary as she turned to check on the unnamed patient that he left in their care.

* * *

**_A/N: Happy New Years to all and thank you for joining me in my third League of Legends story. With the creation of many unique summoner backgrounds, I've decided to add my own to the mix. If any fellow readers/writers want to see their own summoner in this story later on down the road, go ahead and send a PM my way and we'll chat about it. Happy reading and reviewing._**


	2. 02: Your Name

2: Your Name

It was hard to breath. It felt like she was being held underwater as she slowly sunk to the bottom of a bottomless ocean. Her body thrummed with a dull pain as she cracked her eyes open, feeling the heaviness of the sleep that laced her eyes. How long has she been asleep? Not a thought came as she felt a breathing mask over her mouth and nose and a needle in her right arm, just inside the crook of her elbow where the veins are closest to the surface.

A soft groan issued from her mouth as she tried to speak before coughing, making her chest ache with pain from the effort of moving. "Easy there, just stay still." Said a voice next to her as she slowly glanced in the direction to see Akali sitting next to her in a chair, obviously making sure nothing happened while she was sleeping. She must have had a coughing fit before if it didn't worry the ninja next to her. Perhaps her throat was just dry.

The girl inhaled slowly and tried to go back to sleep, but the cough woke her up as she laid there, staring at the ceiling above her with blurry hazel eyes though bits of her dark brown hair that laid across her face. Her body, she noticed, was wrapped up fairly tightly around her upper arms, torso and upper legs, but why was the question. She glanced at the nurse once more as she made a small sound to grab her attention.

Akali looked at the girl and stood up so she could see the girl's face a bit better. "Was there something you needed?" She asked as the girl nodded lightly and slowly mouthed 'water'. "Alright. Just stay still while I grab a glass and a straw for you." With that, Akali was gone faster than the girl could mouth 'thank you'. A few moments passed before the nurse returned with what she promised. She adjusted the bed the girl was on so that she was in a more upright position.

"Since you're awake, you won't need the mask any more." She told her as she removed the mask and the scent of disinfectant assaulted her nosed, making her sneeze. "Bless you. Guess I should have warned you that might happen." Akali gave her a weak chuckle as she held the glass in front of her and moved the straw to the girl's mouth, watching as the patent slowly opened her mouth and started to sip away at the water. "Slowly now, your stomach is going to be a bit weak due to not being able to eat or dink the past couple days." She warned her.

Just a quarter of the water was gone when the girl stop. It was just enough to wet her mouth and throat as she gave a small cough to clear her throat again. "Th-thank you." Her voice hoarse from lack of use as she smiled lightly at Akali. The nurse returned the smile and set aside the glass of water on a small desk next to the bed.

"You've been asleep for a couple days, I was starting to wonder if you would even wake." The nurse told the girl as she blinked lazily and yawned. "Still a bit tired, I see. You should rest up some more, it's still the middle of the night after all." With another blink and a nod, she watched as Akali slowly lowered the bed back down so that she may continue to stare blankly at the ceiling and slowly drift back off to sleep.

* * *

-Couple days later-

All the questions and not a single answer to any of them. The girl knew nothing of herself or where she came from as the two ninja's soon found out. Without a name, they had a hard time trying to address her when they needed to get her attention from whatever book or magazine she was reading at the time. She was still able to read and write like anyone her supposed age could and often understood a lot of the underline meanings of phrases some of the chatty summoners used when speaking with their friends who were also in the infirmary. History wasn't an issue either, but some names remained fuzzy in her mind.

While she sat in her bed reading quietly to herself once more, she listened to the constant discussion of various other champions that she had yet to see. As lonely as she was, it didn't seem to bother her till a small cough was heard next to as she turned her head slightly to see Akali once more by her bed, but this time, she was accompanied by a taller man with an unusual helmet that was connected to something that was on the man's back. Using her peripheral vision, she noticed a lot of the summoners looked excited to see the man or scared as he stood next to her bed, gazing at her neutral face as she looked up at him.

"This is Kassadin, the man who brought you here, miss." Akali told her gently as the girl nodded lightly in acknowledgment and thanks. "Kassadin, try and be gentle with her, she has a serious case of amnesia and remembers nothing of what you told Shen and I of." She whispered to the man before backing off and letting him glide up next to her and took a seat on the chair next to the bed.

They looked at each other, not saying a word. Those around them started to whisper to their partners about rumors to why Kassadin was visiting the girl or, for those that were awake the night he brought her here, told their friends exactly what happened. While the tension was running high around them, both the champion and the girl held a calmer aura around them, an almost knowing feeling of temporary peace. "So, you were the one that brought me here?" The girl finally asked him softly as she closed the book in her hands and set it aside.

Kassadin gave her a nod and looked her over. He saw the bandages wrapped around her upper arm just poking out from under the patient scrubs she was wearing, then looked back to the girls face once more. "I was told you don't remember your name or anything pertaining to yourself." He said, his voice vibrated through the mask he wore as the girl gave him a visible sigh and shook her head weakly.

"I know nothing of myself and the only things I seem to remember is my time here and lots of pain…" She trailed off as she glanced at her legs and held herself tightly in a hug. The pain she had no idea why it was there, but she believed it was connected to the cuts in her skin she first saw when they changed the bandages a day ago. It was shocking, to say the least, as she was restrained to keep from falling our of her bed in confusion and panic.

The grimace on the girl's face tipped Kass off that she was only vaguely remembering what happened to her as he reached a hand out to her and gently placed it on her arm, causing her to jump slightly at the touch as she stared at him with some confusion. "I know what happened, but doctor's orders say I can't talk to you about it yet." He told her, watching as she pulled away slightly in irritation. Retracting his hand for her, Kassadin thought for a moment before speaking again. "What I can do is help you decide a name for yourself."

The offer made her turn her attention back to him, even though she still had a sour face from just before. "I suppose I need one, don't I?" She mused bitterly to herself as she unraveled her arms from her chest and rested them once more along her legs. "Perhaps if we come up with some names, it might ring a bell for my real name to show up." The thought seemed to cheer her up slightly as she glanced at the man next to her, seeing what he thought about it.

He shrugged and nodded at the idea. "Yes, perhaps it will help." The girl pulled out a piece of paper and pen from the small desk next to them and started writing down all the possible names they could think of that would suit her.

Fifteen minutes passed as they tried a good chunk of female names that could possible work for her. "I don't get it, so many names, yet, none of them seem to do it for me." She muttered as she put the paper and pen aside between her and Kassadin as they looked over the list once more. It was bothering her and Kassadin wasn't really helping her with this. Her thin brows furrowed in frustration as she picked up the pen and stabbed on the piece of paper, hitting five of the names they came up with. She glanced at each of the names in order of stabbing: Neeka, Aira, Demi, Rachel, and Isabelle. "Hmm, Nadri?" The name seemed to slip off her tongue easily enough as she looked at Kassadin with a hopeful face.

The Void Walker thought for a moment on the name she created then nodded. "Yes, Nadri. It suits you well." The girl beamed with delight as she crumpled the piece of paper and tossed it into a near by trash can.

A small 'ah' came from her mouth as Akali was holding a food tray with her dinner on top of it. Kassadin turned to the ninja as she looked between her patent and visitor. "Something good happen?" She asked the two of them as the girl nodded and smiled.

"I have a name now." Akali smiled at the progress and set the tray on a small table that covered over the girls lap.

"Her name is Nadri." Kassadin told his fellow champion as he got up off the chair. "I best take my leave for the night then." He started to move, but stopped as he felt a tug from his battle skirt as he turned to see Nadri gripping at it and look up at him with sad eyes.

"Will you come back tomorrow, Kassadin?" She asked him softly as Akali watched the two share this moment.

He was almost taken aback at the question, but his expression was hidden behind the mask as he gave her a slow nod. "Perhaps in the afternoon like today." He told her, watching her let go and smile at him.

"Thank you, for all you've done." Nadri told him as he smiled under the mask and flashed away from the infirmary. Her smile slid away once he was gone and looked to Akali. "Akali, when might I be able to leave here?" She asked softly as the nurse looked at the records that where tied to the end of the bed.

"Well, looks like you can leave as soon as tomorrow since nothing else seems to be wrong with you except for the amnesia." She told the girl as she started on the food on the tray. "Kassadin was very worried about you when he brought you in. You're a very lucky girl."

A small blush formed on her slightly puffed out cheeks as she swallowed what food she had. "I guess so. I mean, if he wasn't worried, he wouldn't have come back, right?"

"That's right. Now, eat up so you have energy for tomorrow." Nadri did as she instructed and continued to eat away at the bread and soup.

_'Tomorrow. Perhaps Kassadin will let me stay with him?'_ The thought rolled through her mind the rest of the night as lights out was being called and dozed off with a slightly content smile on her face.


	3. 03: Starting Over

03: Starting Over

Nadri could barely contain her excitement as she padded around her bed to get use to walking again. _'Finally, I can leave tonight.'_ She thought to herself as Akali was watching her carefully to make sure everything was alright while the girl stretched and rubbed at her upper arms in anticipation. The bandages that covered most of her body were removed since the slender scars healed rather quickly, letting Nadri feel the smooth skin the scars now left upon her body. She was wearing a pair of gray sweat pants and a loose fitting white shirt and her brown hair was hanging about her shoulders playfully after being freshly cut just above her shoulder blades

"You should save your energy for when Kassadin arrives, Nadri." The ninja told the girl as she slowed her pace next to her bed and faced her.

"You're right, I should." She smiled softly and took a seat on the edge of the bed and picked up her glass of water. "I'm just so nervous, you know?" Her voice softened as she sipped at the water.

Akali chuckled at the girl. "Have any idea what you have planned once you're done here?"

Nadri tilted her head slightly at the question then nodded a bit. "I suppose I do, but it depends on…" A violet flash appeared as the Void Walker just Riftwalked into the ward where they were at. "Kassadin!" Nadri gasped out at the sight of him as he turned his helmeted head towards her.

He was holding a small paper bag in his right hand as he glided next to her and placed it next to her. "Clothes I thought would suit you since you're getting out today." He told her as she set down the glass she was holding and picked up the bag and looked inside.

The bag held a small collection of assorted colored shirts and skirts to match which made Nadri blush lightly as she glanced up at Kassadin and smiled. "Thank you so much for this."

"Perhaps you should try them on just to make sure they fit." Akali suggested as Nadri pulled a long sleeve shirt out to look at it better.

The girl looked at the ninja then back to the shirt she was holding. "I should. Be better to walk out wearing new clothes than the sweats and baggy shirt I have now." Nadri mused as she got off the bed and padded away to the restroom with the paper bag in hand and closed the door, leaving Akali and Kassadin to wait.

"Was that really necessary, Akali?" Kassadin hissed though his mask as she chuckled at Kassadin's reaction.

A grin played across her face as she looked up at the Void Walker. "It's just such a rare sight to see you trying to take care of somebody that you have no connection to." She whispered to him as a growl sounded behind the mask. She patted his upper arm gently as she looked to the closed restroom door. "Though, all teasing aside, I must ask where you got the clothes. You couldn't have just bought them…"

Kassadin stepped away from the ninja's reach as he shook his head. "No, but she can use them better than I could." His voice sounded sad as it vibrated through the mask as Akali understood why he had such clothes in his possession.

A click sounded as the door opened revealing Nadri wearing the light blue long sleeve shirt and a royal blue ankle length skirt. She was blushing lightly as she looked to Kassadin and Akali with wondering eyes. "How does it look?" Twirling slight on the ball of her foot, the skirt flared lightly to the motion and the sleeves of her shirt flowed past the palm of her hands. The shirt was still form fitting and showed off her average form well enough to still be considered cute.

A cough was heard from the Void Walker as he watched Nadri move around. "You look…fine." He muttered, obviously embarrassed from what Akali said earlier and the small prance around by the girl.

Nadri looked to Kassadin curiously and tilted her head. "Is there something wrong?" It was almost as though she could see past his mask at his facial expression, but the curious look she had told him that wasn't it.

He shook his head at the question. "No, nothing's wrong." He told her gently as he breathed through the mask making a sighing noise. "Just glad it fits you." He added as she walked up to him and gave him a hug, avoiding the spikes on his belt.

"Thank you again for this, Kassadin." She whispered as she kept her hold around his body. He gave a deep chuckle and petted at her hair gently for a bit before she let go and pulled back. Nadri looked up at him and opened her mouth to ask him a question, but she couldn't say what she wanted. Instead, she ended up closing her mouth and looked away, her face flushed with embarrassment.

"Something you wanted to ask him, Nadri?" Akali mused as she watched the girl look at her with a nervous gaze, then directed her eyes to Kassadin before going back to Akali. The ninja understood what she was trying to ask as she turned to Kassadin, who looked at the two of them with a hidden confused look on his face. "She wants to know if she can stay with you, isn't that right?" The girl nodded as she chanced a glance in Kassadin's direction once more.

The Void Walker was a bit shocked at the question, but it hardly showed passed his mask as he looked at the child before him. "It…would be difficult." He started to say softly as he watched her nervous gaze slowly turn to a sad one. "You see, I have no permanent home for you to stay at." He finished as the girl gave him a small 'oh' and looked away, looking disappointed. It was difficult for him to say such things, but he couldn't have her with him at all times, but there was still that option for her. "What you can do is stay here at the Institute of War and study to become a summoner. I'll be able to see you when I have the time or if you decide you wish to summon me for a match."

Kassadin watched as the girl slowly looked up at him with hopeful eyes as Akali nodded to what he said. "He's right. It would be a fine idea. You'll be safe here as well and have all the necessary arrangements made up for you to live in the summoner's quarters." She added to what the Void Walker mentioned as Nadri smiled lightly at the idea, but then frowned slightly.

"But, where do I go to sign up to become a summoner? I have no idea where anything is outside of the infirmary." The question brought up a valid point seeing as her only memories are only of the infirmary ward and has no recollection of where anything is.

"I'm sure Kassadin will gladly show you where to register." The ninja told Nadri as the Void Walker stared at Akali with disbelief though his mask as she was intentionally putting the girl back into his care. Akali was smirking at him, seeing she was doing just what he did the night he brought Nadri here to be taken care of.

With a resigned sigh, Kassadin nodded and reached a hand out to Nadri. "It'll be quicker if I Riftwalk us there." With a nervous glance at his hand, she gulped slightly before taking it with her small hand. He pulled her to his side, wrapping his arm around her waist. "Hold on tightly." He commanded as he felt her nod and wrap her arms around his body as best she could before they disappeared into a violet flash.

* * *

The feeling was unreal to Nadri as they moved though the space Kassadin called 'the Void'. It made her uneasy, but at the same time, something stirred in the back of her mind, easing that worry. Just as suddenly as they were floating through the Void, they were standing in front of a small office door as Nadri just gripped Kassadin a bit harder, shaking heavily from the jump. He let go of her waist and placed his hand on her head, gently letting her know they were safe. "Here's the office where they screen potential summoners." He told her as the girl looked up at him, her face showing her appreciation for the help he's given her.

Nadri let go of him as she faced the door with nervous apprehension then turned her head to look at Kassadin once more. "Will…Would you stay with me while I go inside?" Her voice was filled with worry that she might have a hard time with the process if alone.

He shook his head as he gazed at her though his helmet. "I'm afraid I cannot."

The girl gulped again as she looked to the door with renewed worry. With attentive steps, she slowly approached the door and turned the knob, but just before opening it, she looked back behind her and found Kassadin was gone. She was like a lost child as she stood there holding the knob tightly in her grip and jumped when someone on the other side pushed it into her as she let go and backed away from the person that was now standing in the doorway.

It was a tall woman in ornate purple robes holding what looked like a clipboard in her grip as she gazed at the girl with calculating eyes. "Another child seeking to be a summoner, I assume?" She asked as Nadri stood there like stunned doe in front of the woman before her.

"I…uh…" The words never came out as she tried to give the woman her answer. The lady sighed at the girl and waved her inside. Nadri followed slowly as she was directed to a chair in front of a rather large desk as the woman took her seat in a rather nice looking chair behind it.

The woman gave the girl another glance before speaking once more, just a bit more gently. "You're not the first to be speechless when registering, child." She told her as she pulled a sheet of paper and a pen and set the two in front of the girl. "Now, just fill out what you can. I'm already aware of your situation."

With shaky hands, Nadri started to write what all she could, though most of the specifics had to be left blank. She glanced around and stopped when she saw a platinum name plate on the desk. 'High Councilor Vessaria Kolminye' it read as Nadri glanced up at the woman once more as she pushed the sheet back towards her slowly. "Ummm, I'm done." She muttered to get the High Councilor's attention.

Vessaria turned her head and reached a hand out to take the paper and looked it over with raised eye brows. "This is all you can fill out? Just your first name and why you wish to be a summoner?" She asked as Nadri nodded and looked off to the side, embarrassed.

"Y-yes." It came out as a soft whisper, but the councilor heard her just fine as she moved to file away the paper and got up. Nadri watched as Vessaria moved to a rack in the back of the expansive office and pulled off a set of keys from one of the rungs.

"You should be grateful Kassadin vouches for you to be here or else I would have sent you away." She told the girl as she soon lead the child to the summoner's quarters to an empty room and handed her the keys. "This'll be your room from now on. You'll start summoner training in the morning, understood?"

Nadri nodded vigorously in agreement as she bowed to the high councilor. "Thank you so much."

"Everything you need will be in the closet and in the personal cooking area for when you don't feel like making your presence known in the cafeteria." She continue to inform Nadri. With the door open, she could see it's simplicity in décor. "The training hall will be just down passed the gardens on the east side. Arrive when you can, but don't dawdle too long."

"Yes, of course!" Nadri was becoming a bit more comfortable as she listened to Vessaria.

"Good, then I bid you farewell till tomorrow." With that, she left the child to her own devices.

Nadri walked inside the room and closed the door behind her. It was late and all the energy that was built up was slowly drained away throughout the day. Slowly, she staggered over to the bed and flopped on top of it. It was much more comfortable than the hospital bed she had been sleeping on the past week and it was eagerly welcoming her tired form as she slowly dozed off into a restful sleep. This was home from now on.


	4. 04: Training

04: Training

_'Everything was supplied indeed.'_ Nadri mused to herself as she explored her room a bit more after waking up. She rummaged through the closet and found the plain purple summoner's robes and tried one on, letting it hang over her thin frame._ 'Well, it covers what I want covered.'_ She continue to think as she tightened the belt around her waist so it would give her form some shape under the flimsy robes.

It was still early morning as she glanced at the clock on the wall. It was around eight when she woke up and has been wondering around her room for the past half hour with silent excitement. "There was no time given, but I should head out and find the training area." With that, Nadri pocketed her room key and walked out into the hallway, finding many that wore the same robes she did wandering around.

It took her a while before she found the garden area, where she watched as some of the summoners watched whom she assumed were champions that were showing off their abilities around the fountains. _'Alright, east of the garden she said.'_ Cluster upon cluster of people stood in the way as she had to dodge and weave through the masses to reach the hallway that lead to her destination. It seems many were also here for training as she saw several others file out and away from the training hall, either a bit shaken or proud or the practice they went through. Nadri was nervous, but after seeing those before her, it put her more on edge as she slowly shuffled her way to the training hall where she spotted a group being tutored how to summon.

Silently, she slipped inside and sat behind some of the other new comers as she listened to the instructor describe the method of how to summon. "With the right amount of concentration…" A blue orb appeared above the instructor's hands. "And energy, we can summon any champion of our choosing to the Fields of Justice. Now, I'm sure after you've all become comfortable with this, you'll be eager to chat with your fellow teammates over strategy." Quite a few of the new summoners nodded their heads in agreement as the instructor summoned a fair white haired woman to the small summoning platform next to him. "This is Ashe, the Frost Archer, and she'll be here to teach you the basics of how most early game strategies work."

The champion smiled warmly at the small group of new summoners as some of them waved or sighed out of boredom. They listened to the Frost Archer as she explained how having their summoned champion will survive longer if he or she were to stand behind the summoned minions and how to activate each of a champion's abilities upon leveling through out the game. After the lengthy question and answer session, they were each lead to a private summoning chamber to learn how to summon a magical copy of Ashe. "Be sure to remember what we've explained and listen to the announcer. She'll explain each of the steps carefully and guide you through this training simulation." She told the group as each nodded in turn.

As Nadri concentrated, she summoned the orb that allowed her to see the Ashe copy standing down on the platform. It was about as easy as breathing, but then took a peek around at her fellow trainees and found some of them were having a hard time getting their orb to appear. Perplexed, she shrugged as she heard a voice whispering instructions. _'Now that you've successfully summoned your champion, you can now purchase items from the store to help improve your champion's skills.'_ The whole process seemed silly as she was lead step by step, each action was taken because of the announcer's instructions. Soon, it ended with her destroying the nexus and watched as the orb disappeared from her hands and another instructor was standing in front of her, waiting patiently.

"Done already? I'm impressed." It was High Councilor Kolminye that was standing in front of her, looking almost pleased with how quickly Nadri finished the training. She looked off to each side before refocusing her gaze on the girl. "First one to finish. I think you can move on to battle training, Miss Nadri?"

Nadri was very much surprised to see Kolminye but then remembered that she said she would see her today. "I…I guess so." With a slow nod with the answer, the High Councilor waved for the girl to follow her to a different training hall.

The room was slightly bigger than the last one, but it held a more elaborate summoning platform for Nadri to stand on. "Here, you get to chose your champion and do a mock battle on Summoner's Rift instead of the Proving Grounds you had to train on." The woman explained as she motioned for Nadri to move to the platform where she was prompted to chose between 3 different champions.

Nadri looked through her choices and pondered for a moment what would suit her best: Garen, the melee fighter, Ashe, the ranged carry, or Ryze, the mage caster. After some thought, she decided on the mage, seeing as she have no wish to be in the thick of battle, but not quite as boring as just shooting from a distance with little offensive abilities. The next moment, she concentrated on summoning the new champion to the field and once again found it as easy as the first time, but, instead of a copy, this was the real Ryze that she summoned. _'Can you handle me, summoner?'_ His question whispered through her mind as she huffed lightly at the orb she was holding.

_'Of course I can!'_ Nadri thought back to the champion as she heard him snicker at her response. His starting items were different and the spells he had all had their uses as she picked and had him move out to the top lane tower. Nadri took the time to figure out what a good rotation would be for him as the first wave of blue minions shuffled past the mage without thought and engaged the purple minions before them.

"Kill five minions" She was instructed, though, she didn't figure out till third wave that she had to last hit them to count for the objective given before it moved on to tell her to destroy the first tower. After the first recall, she was instructed as a secondary quest to kill the wolf camp in the top left part of the jungle, which was easy enough, given Ryze's rotation and passive. Then, Nadri moved Ryze to the next objective that showed and watched as he bounced his arcane magic off the wraiths till they were destroyed._ 'Would we be doing this in a regular match?'_ She though to herself as her champion recalled back to base to upgrade his items.

After finally destroying another tower, she was instructed to grab Blue Buff then, later on, Red Buff._ 'Okay, these I could see getting more often than the small creatures.'_ she mused to herself as yet another side quest appeared. "Slay the Dragon!" Nadri blinked a few times as she started at the dragon that sat at the bottom part of the river._ 'It has much more health than the buff creatures. You sure we can kill this thing?'_ The champion only gave her a mental shrug as had him start his rotation. Using every spell as it came up, both the dragon and Ryze's health dropped at a rapid rate. _'Even with your ultimate, we might not survive this!'_ With one last push, the dragon stuck the killing blow, but not before it too fell to Red Buff's true damage burn.

"Don't be discouraged. Dying is part of how we learn." The announcer's voice was starting to get on Nadri's nerves as she built up Ryze's items once more and moved him down middle lane, aiming to end this little training battle. While it took another ten minutes to completely overwhelm the enemy base with super minions, they were done and victory was achieved. The orb disappeared from her hands as she looked up to see Kolminye waiting patiently for her once again. "Only six deaths and quite a few kills and assists. Not bad for a first time summoning."

Nadri looked off to the side as she stepped off the summoning platform and rubbed at the back of her head in embarrassment. "T-thank you." She mumbled softly, chancing a glance at the woman before her.

"With practice, you'll become a fine summoner, Miss Nadri." She told the girl, watching her face glow red from the complement. "I can see why Kassadin thought you'd do well here. Already magically inclined so summoning would obviously be easy for someone like yourself."

Nadri's face softened at the mention of Kassadin as she tilted her head lightly. "He said that?" She was a child hearing praises from her parents for the first time.

The woman nodded and stepped up to the young girl. "Well, since you've successfully completed both training exercises, you're free to go and do normal or co-op matches when ever you please." Kolminye pulled out a small card and handed it to Nadri. "This will keep track of the points you earn through your matches, which will allow you to gain access to better runes and stronger champions."

Nadri gripped the small card tightly, almost treasuring it as she nodded and smiled widely at Kolminye. "Thank you so much for letting me do this."

"No, thank yourself for showing such promise." The High Councilor told her as she moved away and out of the training hall, leaving the new summoner standing stunned in the room.

* * *

_'I did it. I can stay here.'_ The thought roamed through her mind as she shuffled around the institute till she reached the cafeteria and stepped into the already long lunch line. Even when she was in the infirmary, she always had a bit of a large appetite for a girl as she ordered slightly more than most other girls around her. Yes, Nadri was getting odd stares as she carried her tray to an empty spot, but she ignored it and proceeded to chow down her lunch. She was thin and the two training sessions took a lot out of her, even though she didn't let it show physically.

Gazing about the room, she saw that there were more than just fellow summoners here. She spied what she believe were a couple champions talking with a rather large group of summoners. A small smile formed on her face as she nibbled and chewed at her meal with as much politeness as possible. _'I wonder if Kassadin comes here to eat?'_ The thought of the Void Walker eating made her giggle to herself as she thought of what he might look like under his mask. _'He has blue skin, but what does his hair or face look like though.'_

Her thoughts were soon interrupted as a loud 'Haaayaaa!' rang through the halls and watched as some of the summoners were either hastily knocked back or stepped off to the side as a small ball of lighting zipped by them. The energy soon dissipated as a small creature in a purple ninja outfit stood at the end of the shortened lunch line. A good majority of the summoners in the room gave the Yordle disproving looks as Nadri just sat there, a bit stunned that such occurrences happen in the cafeteria._ 'I really need to get use to this place.'_ She thought to herself and quickly finished off her lunch and decided to go rest after the morning's activities.

Walking back though the garden area, Nadri noticed more summoners were out and about, socializing as most people would when they have close friends. With a heavy sigh she moved down the path towards the summoner's quarters and shuddered at a feeling as she turned around to see nothing out of the ordinary. Something tugged once more at the back of her mind as she placed a hand over her forehead to make it stop. 'There's nothing following me.' She chided to herself as she willed her feet to move to her room.

The comfort of the bed beckoned her drained self as she moved to lay down, sprawled out and yawned loudly. "Home, sweet home." She muttered to herself as she stared up at the plain white ceiling. "I should go do a round of co-op later tonight, but I'm so tired from all the training already." She reached her hands to the back of the bed and stretched, feeling her muscles pull and contract painfully as she pulled one of her calf muscles. "Yeah, later sounds good." She'll get use to it eventually.


	5. 05: Unrest

05: Unrest

"Come on. Almost there!" All towers where down, inhibitors destroyed. Just one last tower standing as it fired away at the super minions, slowly witling down the minion's health before being destroyed as well. "They're up, attack the Nexus!" Even though the invading team was extremely low on health and was quickly killed off, it wasn't enough as the mindless super minions pounded away on the exposed Nexus, destroying it.

**VICTORY!**

Relief flooded her nerves as Nadri stood with her teammates on the summoner's platform, each of them cheering and congratulating and high five-ing their neighbor. "Good game, everyone." She felt a thud on her back as the jungle summoner smiled at her. "You set them up pretty well for a first time Annie summon. Nice job."

A blush formed on her face as she nodded and smiled back widely. "I just wish I didn't die so much, but I guess they knew that I would be trouble late game." She said to him as he chuckled and left with his buddies that were with them. _'Seems I'm the odd one out.'_ Nadri thought to herself as she steadily made her way to the cafeteria for a quick bite to eat.

It's been almost a week since she signed up to become a summoner and so far, she's had no further contact from Kassadin._ 'I'm sure he has better things to do than look after me.'_ Taking a big bite out of the strawberry danish in her hand, she gazed around and found many fellow summoner each locked in conversation with one another and hardly found another solitary person like herself in the room. With a mental shrug, she finished off her little snack and stood up to leave.

Another quick glance around the cafeteria revealed a rather large group surrounding a bulletin board with a couple large signs on it. Nadri shrugged and moved towards the chattering crowd, listening to their speculative conversations.

"Ohh, finally I can summon Fiora and see how her abilities work out for me."

"Oh gods, Teemo is free again."

"Pink Ward week it looks like."

Nadri looked over the one they were talking about and saw what she noticed was tomorrow's champion line up for free summoning for the week. Thresh, looks down right evil; Fiora, melee champion, gonna pass. Gangplank, looks like melee as well, also pass; Kassadin…. She lingered on the Void Walker's portrait for a while before breaking out into a grin. "Well, he did say I could when I can." She did a quick glance at the last six champions before wandering off to the garden area.

As always, there was quite a crowd around the fountains and a couple lingering champions socializing with the summoners. Despite it being late afternoon, she didn't feel up to doing much, but just as she started to drift along the path, she felt a bump against her leg and heard a 'Excuse me, sorry.' from what she realized was Teemo as he sped by along the path in a hurry. Confused by the sight, she didn't hear the heavy footfalls behind her as someone collided into her, knocking them both over, with the person on top.

Her arms were pinned underneath her body painfully as she heard the person on her back groan a bit before sliding off and standing up. "Cheeky little yordle." He muttered with mild amusement as Nadri rolled to her side so that she could move her arms out from under her and sit up as well. Looking up at him, she noticed he was a fairly tall fellow with tan beard and hair that was pulled back into a pony tail and his robes were a bright red instead of the tradition purple. The male summoner was dusting himself off and didn't give her a second glance as he sprinted in the direction of the already long gone yordle.

Nadri furrowed her eye brows in irritation at the summoner's slowly dwindling form and watched as he took a turn a bit too tightly, skidding into a wall before recovering and kept going. "Well then…" Murmurs reached her ears as she realized she wasn't the only one that thought he was being weird. She finished getting up from off the ground and dusted herself off as well and proceeded to head back towards the summoner's quarters. _'That was awkward.'_

She had till tomorrow for the free summons to change as she sat in her room mulling over a diary and writing down the days conquests from each of her matches she participated in. While not all the games were victories, she still was learning the ropes and felt good when her team was able to win. Her thoughts drifted as the evening hours drifted by as she found herself thinking about how she could go outside of the Institute and possibly visit the towns and city-states for clues to her past. The idea seemed sound, but Valoran was a large continent and had a lot of ground to cover._ 'How would I get around anyway? I heard teleporting is a good way, but limited.'_

A knock sounded at her door, disrupting her train of thought as she plotted down potential ways to travel. "One moment." Nadri called out as she got up from her desk and strolled over to the door and unlatching it. An odd feeling came over her as she slowly opened the door and was now staring up at the Void Walker, who stood a couple feet away from the entrance to her room. "Kassadin, what brings you here?" She asked as she let go of the handle to the door and almost lunged herself at him to give him a hug in greeting. The feeling, she realized, was the champion's presence announcing itself to her before she even saw him.

A soft rumble shook his body as he chuckled at the young summoner and placed a hand on top of her head. "Seeing how you're holding up to your new life here." Kassadin told her as he looked over her form, seeing how much more color her skin now has compared to when he last saw her. "You really do look much better now."

Nadri smiled widely at him and let go of his torso. "I feel better, too. Though, you never mentioned how draining it is to summon champions." She mused softly as she waved her arms to the door, offering to let him come inside. "Stay for a while?" There was so much she wanted to talk about with the Void Walker.

Kassadin hesitated at the offer, but then realized her fascination with him was just child like innocence and wanted company. He gave her a nod and floated inside the plain dorm room. It was tidy enough aside from the clutter of paper sprawled out on her writing desk. "Been keeping yourself busy, I see." He heard her make a slight noise before she joined him at his side.

"Been trying to figure out what to do next." She told him as she pulled up her chair and set it out for him as she moved to her bed and sat on the edge. "I want to go traveling and see if that'll bring up any possible hints to who I was before." She explained to the champion as he took the chair and faced her.

"Try to hold off on such adventures, I'm sure you're eager to get started on this, but you must take it slow. Memories don't come back just by visiting potentially familiar places." Kassadin told her gently as she pouted at the Void Walker.

Nadri shook her head at the suggestion and narrowed her eyes at him. "I won't know till I try!" She was acting like a rebelling teenager at him, but it didn't seem to bother her that she was arguing with the man that saved her. "It's not like I'm a helpless little girl." But, deep down, she knew truly that she was a helpless girl when he found her.

The Void Walker almost chuckled at the reaction, but hid the emotion as he stood up, towering over the young summoner's small form. "Nadri, I will not have you wandering off to anywhere till we're more confident that you can handle yourself against anything." He told her sternly as she flinched at the statement. It was like he was speaking with his daughter again… A second chance, perhaps.

She grimaced at him as she shot glares from the corner of her eye. "I-I'm pretty sure I can handle myself fine." Her confidence was waning and the last sentence showed it. What was he worried about? It wasn't like she was his child or anything. Just a random stranger he brought to the Institute. But yet, here he was, checking up on her.

A breathy sigh escaped from behind Kassadin's mask. "I know you want to remember your past, Nadri, but there are some dangers that lie outside of the Institute that shouldn't know you survived that night." He told her gently, watching her stare up at him from the corner of her eye still. The small new piece of information he said did lessen the distrusting glare as she raised her eye brow in wary curiosity. "Before you ask, the threat isn't something I should reveal to you quite yet." He added quickly and saw the narrowing gaze return as she pouted away from him.

"Oh, yes, cause the creatures I can summon aren't dangerous enough." She muttered angrily at him. "It's not as if I've been feeling followed this past week by some unknown presence." Even though Akali and Kassadin told Nadri she would be safe here, it didn't feel like it when she would walk around the Institute at certain times of the day or night. Not only that, but some of the activity that's been happening around her almost always put her on edge for some reason.

This news worried Kassadin as he continued to watch the girl in silence._ 'Does he know she's here already?'_ If this is so, then he must act quickly and search the buildings for traces of the Void that he could have left behind. The Void Walker moved to leave, but it seemed Nadri noticed his silent retreat.

"Where are you going?" She was still upset at him, but the small hint of curiosity lingered in her voice as he looked at her from over his shoulder.

"You're upset at me, are you not?" He was dodging the real reason for leaving her, but it was for her own good. He didn't want to leave her like this, but her safety rides with his departure to check on his suspicions.

Nadri was at a bit of a loss for words as he asked her that question. In fact, it made her sad that he was leaving because he thought he upset her. "N-no, I was…just a bit disappointed. I thought you'd help me plan where I should start looking and what not." If anyone could help her get around, it was Kassadin.

This hit home with the Void Walker as he turned back and glided up next to her and gently placed a hand on her head, lightly petting her brown hair. "Perhaps later this week." He conceded to her, watching her slowly look up at his masked face and beam at him happily.

"Really? You mean it?" Nadri was very much over joy-ed to hear this as she slipped off the bed and hugged him once again around his chest.

A smile formed on Kassadin's face as it was hidden behind his mask. "Yes, I mean it." He felt the summoner squeeze him harder with his answer, obviously happy that he was going to help her. "I should go for now. It's quite late and I'm sure you're looking forward to tomorrow's free summon rotation."

The mention of the free week rotation pulled a mild 'ah' from the girl as she looked up at him. "That's right, you're on the list for this week." There was so much Nadri wanted to ask him about his abilities on the Fields of Justice.

"Yes." He gently pried her off as she unwillingly leg go of him. "We'll talk tomorrow when you summon me. I will warn you though, what you might see will not be pleasant." Their connection might trigger something with her memories if they weren't careful and his own past will be revealed to her as well. _'Perhaps she'll see why I've been trying to take care of her.'_ The thought that she'll start finding out more about the Void will possibly lead her to seek out the Prophet once more to try to find out about her past.

Nadri smiled, unaware of what Kassadin was thinking as she nodded happily. "Tomorrow then." She bid the Void Walker a good night and looked at the clock on the wall in her room._ 'Past midnight already?'_ Time sure did fly when she wasn't paying attention as she slipped out of her summoner robes and into a long night gown and crawled into bed for the night.

_~It was odd, but floating a half foot off the ground seemed natural to her as she looked around the ruins before her. Nadri was wearing what she believed to be Shurima desert wear in the colors of purple with white trimmings. A small violet creature made itself known as it sat quietly on her shoulder looking at the same things she was. _"It's alright, soon all will come to know of it's existence."_ She mused softly to the creature as it clicked in response. She petted the small creature, listening to it hum in content as a small cruel smile graced her face.~_


	6. 06: Discovery

06: Discovery

There was something on her chest. She could feel it as she was slowly waking up. It wasn't heavy, but the pressure it was making still alerted her of something that shouldn't be there. Nadri slowly opened eyes, glancing down towards her chest and found a violet creature with three round yellow eyes staring back at her.

"Skreee! (You're up!)" It shrieked happily, startling the summoner as she sat up quickly, making the little creature tumble back down her chest to her lap. It recovered and chattered angrily at her. "Shree kree! (Don't do that!)"

Nadri rubbed her eyes as she looked down at the fuming violet creature. She noticed it was no bigger than her hand and had an angular shape to each of it's limbs and head with a small round body. "What are you?" She muttered at it, watching it climb up her body and onto her shoulder as it poked the side of her head with the tip of one of it's claws.

"Skreee shree. (Your companion.)" It chattered in her ear. Nadri raised an eye brow at the thing, still confused as to what it was. The creature clicked a reply, as if it knew what she was thinking. "Skra ke. (I'm a voidling.)" The summoner gave a small 'oh' and stretched, squishing the voidling into her head by accident.

"A voidling? So you came from the Void?" It nodded it's head and crawled on top of her head and nestled itself into her hair. "Hey, get down!" Nadri reached up to pick it up and found it gave no resistance as it now curled up in her hands comfortably. As much as this little voidling startled her, she realized it looked quite adorable as it napped happily in her hands.

It was still dark in her room, but, then again, it had no windows as she slowly moved to the edge of her bed and gently set the voidling onto on of her pillows before moving off to turn on the lights to see. The time was almost six in the morning and now she was wide awake with a little creature in her bed. It was watching her with it's curious yellow eyes as she paced around the room trying to figure out how it got into her room.

A headache started to form in the back of her mind as she groaned in frustration from all the thoughts and returned to sitting on the bed. Now that the lights were on, she could see the little creature crawl back up to her and settled itself in her lap like a cat. "How did you get into my room, little voidling?" She asked it as it turned it's angular head up to her and blinked.

"Kee skree. (You summoned me.)" It clicked as Nadri raised an eye brow at the answer. She was sleep summoning? The thought made her head hurt a bit more as she leaned forward and buried her face in her hands, placing her elbows in front of the violet creature. It reached out one of it's front claws and gently tapped her arm as if to say 'it's alright.'

The headache soon subsided as she leaned back up and laid back onto the bed, her legs still dangling over the edge of the bed. The voidling moved off her lap and crawled next to her head and nuzzled the summoner happily and curled up against her shoulder. "I wonder if there are rules about pets in the summoner's quarters?" She wondered out loud as the voidling clicked softly in response. Nadri reached a hand up to it and gently petted it's head with a finger, listening to it coo with delight.

A quiet rumble of her stomach told her she has been awake long enough to grab something to eat. Sitting up once more and getting of her bed, she turn to look at the voidling one more time as it watched her from the blanket before getting dressed into her summoner robes. Once she was finished adjusting all the straps, the little creature jumped to her shoulder and slipped into her hood, hiding itself. "You hungry, too, I take it?" She ask it as it clicked to confirm her inquiry. With a quick glance into the mirror to see if anyone would be able to see him, she noticed that he blended well into the color of the robe and kept well out of sight in the large hood before setting out to the cafeteria.

* * *

With the new free summons active, the cafeteria was filled with summoners that want to get first call on the champion they wish to summon. Nadri had to admit to herself that she wanted to summon Kassadin just as eagerly as everyone else around her and tell him what transpired earlier this morning. The constant chatter around her kept prying eyes from seeing the occasional slip of slices of ham into her hood as she listened to the little voidling munch on each piece happily as she quickly ate her own breakfast. Upon finishing, she set the tray in the usual spot and quickly strolled through the garden area to the private summoning halls on the other side.

The room was quiet as Nadri set up a mock match up, leaving just one space open for herself as she set up what she had for the summon. The summoner concentrated on Kassadin, closing her eyes so she could see him now fully summoned on the platform on Summoner's Rift. His memories flowed into her mind as she watched a quick flash of something going wrong, a girl crying out and disappearing and a man in a Shurima outfit laughing manically as another man tried to attack the other. "Malzahar! You will pay for this!"

_'Nadri, you're up early.'_ Kassadin said to her as she opened her eyes and stared down at the orb that showed the Void Walker still standing on the platform.

She shook her head and looked over his abilities before replying to him. _'Yes, I guess.'_ Nadri tried to hide how shaken she was from the memory she saw. _'Um, do you mind if we talk afterwards?'_ She asked him gently, obviously very worried and feeling a bit off over who she saw in that memory.

Kassadin sensed her worry and gave her a mental nod. _'Of course.'_ She hadn't willed him to get anything from the shop and looked up to the empty sky like he was staring at her. _'I would suggest getting a Doran's Ring if you're unsure on what to start with.'_

_'Oh, yes, sorry…'_ She was lost in though as she did as he said before having him move out to middle lane. _'So you're a melee champion?'_ While some of his skills were a bit ranged or Area of Effect spells, he used an energy blade made of void essence. Not something she was expecting.

_'You'll be fine. Just remember that I can take a couple hits from casters better than most other mid champions.'_ He reassured her as the first wave of minions appeared.

* * *

**DEFEAT!**

Nadri groaned as she left the private summoning room, feeling bad over losing the mock battle. "That was horrible." She moaned to herself as she made her way out of the summoning hall to the garden area and sat at the edge of one of the fountains. A tap on the shoulder made her look to see her little voidling companion trying to make her feel better as she smiled a bit at it and gave it a gentle pet with her left hand. "Thank you."

A quick glance around showed no one was looking her way as she pushed the voidling's head down so he'd hide back in her hood. With a sigh, she looked up at the sky as she waited for Kassadin to show up, assuming he does. Her mind started to wonder till she heard the now familiar noise of his Riftwalk. "I'm sorry about the match. I had no idea how difficult you were to summon." She told him as he placed a hand on her head and smoothed out her hair a bit.

"It's alright, it was your first time." He said to her softly and sat next to her on the fountain's edge. "I should have warned you last night about that."

Nadri shook her head as she glanced at the Void Walker with big worried eyes. "They were all so difficult to kill, too. So tanky…" Her voice trailed off as she leaned forward onto her hands and sighed. She felt him pat her back, trying to ease her fear of upsetting him over a loss in a mock battle.

"You just need to practice." He looked over the young summoner as he noticed something moving inside of her hood. With a deliberate slowness, he moved her hair away as he caught the sight of three familiar yellow orbs staring at him. The voidling screeched, startling Nadri as she glanced at Kassadin who was staring at the voidling in anger. "What's this voidling doing inside your hood?" He demanded as the girl glanced at the little creature and back at him.

The voidling crawled up on her shoulder and hissed at the Void Walker. "Stop it." Nadri told the creature and gave it a small swat on the head. It backed off from hissing and just glowered at the champion as she too looked back at Kassadin. "He said I summoned him last night in my sleep." She told him and watched Kass's eyes widen in horror. "I was going to tell you about him, but I was hoping you wouldn't act like this." She muttered as the voidling slipped back into her hood, out of sight.

"You…summoned it in your sleep?" The hesitation in his voice showed as he tried to calm himself. To even think the Void inside of her was awakening was slowly becoming a reality with this voidling's presence.

Nadri only nodded to his question as she looked away from him, saddened by his reaction over her little companion. "I don't think he's going to be trouble to me." She said softly as the little voidling laid over the other shoulder away from Kassadin.

A heavy breath sounded came from behind his mask as he looked at the profile of the summoner with the creature over her shoulder. Unlike Malzahar who keeps his pets for a short time, she seems to be able to keep them by her side for as long as she wants, but at what cost? "How long has your 'companion' been by your side for?" He tried not to sound angry, but he couldn't help that she's slowly becoming similar to his nemesis.

The question earned a confused look from her as she glanced at him from the corner of her eye before answering. "I think almost three hours." Nadri said softly, listening to the voidling hum next to her. She turned her head a bit more to face him again. "Is there something wrong?"

He couldn't tell her, it was too soon. "No…I was just curious." He breathed as he continued to watch her closely. "I'm just concerned about you having a voidling as a pet." Not only that, but he also saw it as a way for Malzahar to track her down.

It was becoming awkward between them as she slowly inched away from him along the fountain edge. "There's something else you're not telling about this, but I'm not going to pry. I know you won't tell me yet." She whispered to him and closed her eyes and sighed. There was just something about that memory that might tell her why she's thinking this way.

During the conversation, summoners kept slowing their pace when they were passing by Kassadin and Nadri, trying to listen in on what they were saying. The Void Walker noticed this as he stood up and moved in front of the young summoner, placing a hand on her free shoulder and Riftwalked them away from the Institute. This startled the summoner as she whirled around gazing at the edge of the forest just north of the building. "It's to keep from being over heard." He explained as both Nadri and the voidling stared at him in confusion. _'Seems the little thing is connected to her emotions.'_

The sudden jump from one area to the next made her head spin a bit as she leaned into Kassadin's side for support. "A little warning would be nice." She muttered softly as she felt him hold her close in a one arm hug. The voidling settled back into her hood, obviously not wanting to be glared at by the champion.

"There is so much I want to tell you and I fear the time is getting closer with each day." He whispered softly to her as she looked up at him with her hazel eyes. "The memory you saw earlier was the night my daughter was sacrificed to the Void."

Nadri's expression widened with worry as she glanced down to his chest. "I…I didn't realize." He lost his daughter to the Void, no wonder he didn't like her voidling. "I'm sorry." She slowly wrapped her arms around his middle and gave him a gentle hug. Still, there was something about what he said in that memory that made her look up at Kassadin's masked face. "That man you were yelling at…Malzahar…why does he seem so familiar to me?"

He knew it. The memory did spark something in the summoner's mind to recall the Prophet's presence in her own memories, but not enough for her to remember what he did though, thankfully. "Nadri, you must promise me that if you ever meet him, you will get as far away from him as possible." He told her, letting her hear the seriousness in his voice as he held the girl tightly to him. "Do not let him near you, ever." He will not let Malzahar near this girl if he could help it.

Nadri understood he was concerned for her, but all the pieces as to why weren't fully revealed to her. "Kassadin…" She sighed and leaned her head into his side. "I'll try." The girl conceded to his request to stay away from the man as long as she could, but something told her it would be an difficult task.

The Void Walker gently petted her hair slowly, knowing he was asking a lot from her. The voidling seemed to stare up at him from her hood, almost curiously as it sat in her summoner's hood. "Perhaps you'd like to try and summon me again? Only this time, try to use less 'tanky' champions on the opposing side."

The summoner looked up at him and tilted her head. "You sure? I mean…last time was…"

"It'll be alright, it just takes practice." Kassadin reassured her as she nodded and held tightly to him as he moved them to a different summoning room and let her set up once more. _'Soon she'll understand it.'_


	7. 07: Apprenticeship

07: Apprenticeship

"Dammit, she flashed."

"I got her!"

The enemy LeBlanc was Distorting around the forest around Blue Golem, escaping from her team's killers, but to no avail as Kassadin landed right on top of her, stopping her in her tracks and melted the rest of the health she got away with to zero.

**ACED!**

There were quite a few choice words exchanged as the enemy team surrendered. "You cost us the game…!"

"No way, I had a hard time against…"

Nadri's teammates all chuckled at the other team's insults amongst one another. With weeks of practice, her ability to summon Kassadin became much better and even more so with joining real matches. With a smile, she left the summoning hall and made her way back to the cafeteria for lunch. Her little voidling poked it's angular head over her shoulder as she slipped it a couple slices of lunch meat it's way. "There you go, Ska'Rix." Yep, she named her companion much like the void creatures on the Fields of Justice.

The voidling chattered happily and slipped back into her hood with it's meal, leaving Nadri to eat her own in peace. The feelings she was having the first week subsided along with the headaches as she concentrated on learning how to be a decent summoner. As for what Kassadin warned her about, the only times she's seen Malzahar was in matches against him or, on the rare occasion, when a fellow teammate summons him. While the sight of the Prophet made her nervous, she didn't feel anything else towards him and still couldn't quite grasp where he fits in within her own memories. It bugged her.

"(Another slice, please!)" She heard Ska clicked from her hood as she took another piece and slipped it into her hood. "You might grow to be as big as Malzahar's if you're not careful." She whispered to the voidling as it poked the back of her neck irritably at the comment. While he would be a slightly common sight thanks to Malz, she didn't want people asking her how she got a hold of him. Ska'Rix was her secret to keep for the time being.

Nadri put up the tray and left the cafeteria and strolled around till she reach her room and changed into a white long sleeve blouse and sunflower yellow spring ankle length skirt. Ska'Rix skittered across her bed and slipped into a small handbag that held some personal items. "Of course you're coming. 'Can't be alone' he said." She mused to the voidling as they left the Institute and teleported them to Demacia's front gates. The city was quite pleasant with it's gold, blue and white buildings and steady bustle of high society through the streets. It was the first city-state she visited with Kassadin just a couple weeks ago and she quite enjoyed roaming around the market district.

With her voidling hiding in her handbag, the summoner wandered around, enjoying the sights and sounds as she drifted up the streets, looking into the windows of various shops. "Hard to believe nothing rings a bell here." She muttered softly to herself as she looked over the latest clothing lines in Demacia. With time passing them by, she soon reach the edge of the city that over looked the Conqueror's Sea. There was always something about looking out to the sea and watch the sun set into the horizon that just made her smile a bit.

"There you are."

The voice startled her as she twirled around to find Kassadin gliding over to her. "Gezz, 'Dad', it's only Demacia, not Noxus." Nadri playfully muttered at him as the voidling poked it's head out of the handbag to look at the champion as well.

Shortly after he explained some of his past to her, she had been calling him 'Dad' or 'Father' on occasion when he shows up where she least expects him and it kinda made Kassadin smile a bit on the inside, but didn't let it show to the summoner. "You've been running off to each city we've already checked. I still don't feel comfortable with you being on your own yet."

They already visited Demacia, Zaun, and Ionia, but none of the city-states triggered any memories she's forgotten. "I know, but it's nice to get out once in a while, you know?" She said, looking up to him as he glided up next to her. "Besides, Demacia has a wonderful sunset view, doesn't it?" It really is one of her favorite spots thus far.

The Void Walker nodded as he gazed at the sunset then down at the summoner and voidling. "Think it's time to head back home." He said as he placed a hand onto her shoulder, watching her stare back up at him with her hazel eyes.

"Already?" Yes, she's been wandering around for the past four hours staring at all the cute clothes she couldn't afford and eating small snacks from some of the food vendors, but she wasn't ready to head back so soon. Ska'Rix chattered at the champion making Nadri cover her face at what he was saying. "Ska, stop being rude."

Kassadin didn't understand the voidling, and didn't want to with Nadri's reaction telling him everything. "It'll be dark out soon and I don't want you being caught off guard because you couldn't see." He told her as the summoner sighed and nodded her head lightly as she placed a hand over his. He took this as a 'yes' and Riftwalked them back to the Institute's entrance.

"Guess this is where I go get dinner and you go off and do what you do?" Nadri asked as she stepped away from Kassadin towards the building.

"As much as I would like to stay, Runeterra still needs to be protected from the Void's coming." He told her once more as routine dictates how they usually part. She was nodding her head and rolling her eyes at him, like any normal child would when they heard something many times before. "Try and send word of where you're going next time so I don't have to find you through your voidling's presence." Speaking of the voidling, the Void Walker wondered why Malzahar hasn't tried to approach her yet. The Prophet knew she was here with a voidling, but yet, he doesn't make contact with her and it was making Kassadin nervous.

"Of course. Next time I will." With a gentle wave he saw her off inside the Institute before he disappeared to make his usual rounds.

* * *

Dinner passed much like lunch, uneventful yet still fulfilling food wise. Nadri strolled through the garden area, now back in her summoner's robes, circling around and taking in the sights of the small clusters of fellow summoners just chatting with one another. _'I really haven't gotten close to anyone, have I?'_ She thought to herself as she stretched out in the middle of the pathway, reaching her hands into the air.

"Found one!"

Before Nadri could react, someone grabbed her hands and pulled her to a small group of summoners. "Huh? She looks awfully new…" One of the summoners commented to the one who held her hand tightly.

With a quick look at the person who picked her out, she realized she had seen him before. Or, rather, been ran into by him. It was the summoner with crimson red robes. The one chasing Teemo several weeks back. "I thoroughly doubt she'll be worse than the next random summoner we would have been paired with." He said as he glanced at her with mischievous blue eyes and a wide grin that made her gulp at the sight.

"Tetro, you're scaring the poor girl." Another of the group muttered as the crimson robed summoner patted Nadri's head.

"You're not scared, am I right?" He asked happily, obviously not caring if he did or not.

She was at a loss for words at the sudden involvement with other summoners. "I-it's…not that…" She managed to say after a couple moments of being stared at. Ska'Rix was thankfully sleeping off inside her hood, effectively staying out of sight.

Tetro, as his friend called him, swiftly patted her on the back hard, nearly knocking his hand into Ska, but thankfully missed. "Then there's no problems. You're with us!" He grinned once more as a couple of the other summoners sighed. Hard to argue with a guy who changes his robe colors and chases Teemo in his spare time. The male summoner grabbed her hand once more and started dragging her once again towards the summoning hall with his friends following suit after them.

Nadri wanted to say something about this as she tried to keep stride with the taller summoner, but just couldn't find the time or breath to say a word to him. The soon reached an empty summoning room and quickly set up their spots. "W-wait, aren't we gonna decide who go where first?" She stammered as she couldn't quite do much else other than some mid lane champions. Not only that, but her options where very few and mostly consist of those on the free week rotation.

Tetro chuckled at the question and patted her head. "Just pick who you're use to, we'll pick based off your choice." He assured her, still smiling with that mischievous grin. She gave him a weak nod as the summonings started to happen.

_'Someone I'm use to, huh?'_ Nadri thought to herself as she picked Kassadin as her choice of summon. Tetro raised an eye brow to it, but said nothing and proceeded to pick Nunu for support while the others picked Draven, Hecarim and Xin Zhao. Some of the champions she had never really seen in action before as she was curious as to what each of them do while they awaited to face their opposing team.

"Oh man, this is gonna be brutal." Said the summoner that picked Draven muttered as they got a glimpse at the enemy team's line up. Jarven IV, Malzahar, Vayne, Sona and Yorick was the line up and again, there were a couple champions she wasn't familiar with.

Tetro smirked as he glanced at her, watching her reaction to the enemy team's line up. "Malzahar vs. Kassadin, you should be fine."

Nadri looked back at him, looking worried about the level difference between her and the opposing summoner. "I should, but I'm not fully set up like you or the others and I get the feeling the other team is fully equipped with runes as well." Her worry wasn't unfounded as a couple of their team nodded in worry as well.

"I'll try and get in a quick gank for you mid and set you up to stand on your own after a couple kills." Hecarim's summoner told her as she nodded weakly and sighed.

The connection was completed as she looked down at Kassadin who noticed her presence in his mind once more. _'You seem worried this time.'_ He whispered to her as she mentally nodded to him.

_'Yes, I was… paired with stronger summoners and I think the enemy team will be more their experience level than mine.'_ She told him as she picked up a Crystal Sapphire and a couple health potions for him.

"Good you're going for the quick Catalyst first, right?" Tetro asked her as she looked at him, a bit perplexed.

"Um, I was going for the Tear of the Goddess…"

"Don't. Get a Catalyst first and boots. You'll survive longer in lane. In fact, forget Tear and build a Sheen after the Catalyst then go from there."

The sudden seriousness coming from the male summoner startled her a bit as she asked Kassadin about the change in build. _'He is wise. It would be best to do what he recommended than what we've been doing before.'_ If the Void Walker agreed with him, so will she as the minions started to spawn.

* * *

-Fifteen minutes in on the enemy side.-

"They have such a mobile team." The Yorick summoner muttered as they watched Dragon get taken once again from their grasp.

"They may be mobile, but they lack the tankiness to take on a full team fight aside from maybe that Nunu and Xin Zhao." Jarven's summoner retorted as he tried to engage on Draven and Kassadin, but they both managed to flash away.

"We need to set up Vision Wards at all the points to get rid of their sight on us or grab an Oracle's." The Sona summoner suggested to the others as they slowly kept getting picked off by the Hecarim, Xin Zhao and Nunu.

"That's your job as the support." Vayne's summoner hissed as she kept Tumbling away from the three pursuers.

"It was all over when I didn't get a single gank from Jarven. Three times that Hecarim came and secured my death for their Kass." Malzahar's summoner grumbled at the rest of the team.

All pointing fingers at one another as the other team grouped and pushed down mid lane, taking another tower.

-Twenty minute mark, enemy team surrenders.-

"Ahh, it's over already?" Tetro mused as they ended their connection to their champions. The summoner smiled and glanced over at the girl he picked and chuckled lightly as he caught her trying to calm down from all the near misses from earlier in the game. "You did fine. But you see how much easier it was once you got that Catalyst? More health and mana really kept you going as you leveled."

Nadri turned to face him, small sweat drops lined her brow as she nodded. "I…thank you for the advice." She wanted to say his name, but she didn't feel it was right to call him what his friends' called him.

"You're welcome!" He said brightly before realize he never got her name. "Ah…what should I call you?" He quickly asked her as she raised an eye brow at the way the question was phrased.

"Nadri…" She stuttered as she started to edge away to leave the summoning chamber. But, before she could move off the platform, he gripped her hand and shook it.

"I'm Rein, but most just call me Tetro. You can call me whatever you want." He smiled once more as she nodded once more to him and bowed.

"Thank you again, Tetro. You really helped me understand how much more effective that build was compared to what I was used before." She told him while looking up at him.

Tetro grinned and ruffled her hair a bit, letting stick up in a few places. "Perhaps I should make you my apprentice." Nadri looked confused for a moment at the thought. "Yep, from now on, you'll be my apprentice, I'll teach you everything you need to know about summoning strategies and what not."

He was being eccentric but before she could say a word about it, Tetro was already walking out of the summoner's hall in high spirits. _'Apprentice? Seriously?'_ She was dumbfounded at the thought this guy claiming her to be his pupil of sorts, but the fact that he's going to teach her how to be a better summoner quelled a bit of the seething fury against him as she followed him out. "W-wait, Tetro…" She called out to him, watching him turn to face her with a curious look on his face.

"Yes, apprentice?" He was already calling her that as she caught up to him.

"Are you being serious about this?"

"About what?"

Does he have a short term memory or is he just playing with her, she couldn't tell as she covered her face at his initial response. "About teaching me about being a better summoner. Are you serious about that?"

The tall summoner chuckled as he crossed his arms. "Of course I am." He was confident and enjoyed the thought of having someone else around to help him out with his own endeavors. Tetro looked over the girl as she wiped off her brow at last. "Go rest. We'll do another match together tomorrow, only next time, you're trying someone else."

"Huh?" He was going to have her try a different champion in their next match?

"I can set up a few customs and help you test out some of this week's champions. There's some good ones you might find much easier than Kassadin." He offered, watching her expressions change each time he said something. _'Quite an amusing person.'_

Nadri was stuttering again, but couldn't get any words out so she stopped and sighed. "I-I guess I could look over the list and see who I want to try." He patted her head.

"That's a good apprentice. See you in the morning, same room." With that, he walked off towards the garden area.

"What have I gotten myself into?"


	8. 08: Dangerous Curiosity

08: Dangerous Curiosity

It was official, she had befriended a crazy nut job that insists on being her teacher in the many strategies of summoning on Summoner's Rift. Each morning, Tetro would seek Nadri out and drag her to one of the custom match rooms and have her summon a different champion of an unfamiliar role. Some of the champions, she had to admit, she enjoyed, but a good portion of the others threw her for a loop or ten as she couldn't quite get the hang of their abilities or just didn't like the personality they projected to her.

"I'm sure I'll get to summon them all, but don't you think we're rushing my progress a bit fast?" Nadri inquired during one of their usual custom matches as she willed the Twisted Treant back into the jungle to grab Blue Golem again.

"Nope! The more you know now, the more likely you'll catch on to newer champions as they arrive." He answered as he was controlling the Revered Inventor in mid lane, keeping his opponent away from each wave that came marching up.

It's only been a week and they banter quite often about his methods that he's been teaching her on the fly when they do normal matches. Also, during this time, Nadri had to keep her little voidling out of sight of him so he doesn't go asking questions about how she'd gotten him. Now, the only times Ska'Rix could even come out was when they were in their own room alone or when they leave the Institute for a while without telling Tetro.

Nadri listened to Maokai grumble as she moved in to gank top lane since the bot they put to take top wasn't doing too great against two enemy bots. His combo made her smile a bit because he could close the gap on the weakest person without worrying about being stopped till he materialized on his target and the saplings made the cutest noises when tossed, second only to her voidling. "I kinda like Mao."

Tetro chuckled at his apprentice as he watched her smile a bit at the summoning orb in her hands. "He's a grumpy tree, but a strong grumpy tree." He agreed, seeing as she was summoning one of his personal favorite champions. Her rotation is clumsy and her timing is usually off, but with time he'll make sure she'll get up to speed on timing and all the builds for each of her soon to be favorites.

* * *

The afternoon rolled around as they sat in the cafeteria to chill out from all the mock matches they did. "You know, I could just make something better than that." Tetro waved a hand at the small pile of food that sat on Nadri's tray. He didn't care for the food made at the Institute and preferred to make his own meals.

"This is just fine." She muttered between bites as she tried her best to slip a piece of food to her voidling in her hood when he wasn't looking. It wasn't like Ska'Rix had to eat, but he enjoyed the taste of the food that she gives him from time to time.

"One of these days, I'll bring you to my room here and whip up something that'll change your mind." He boasted, making Nadri drop what she was holding as she stared up at him.

"W-whoa, hold on." She stuttered as she looked around the room, seeing if anyone else heard that. Thankfully, no one else seemed to hear him.

Tetro just laughed at her reaction and patted his apprentice on the shoulder. "I have a kitchen built in to my room here. Took a while to get it the way I wanted it." He told her as Nadri sighed with relief then proceeded to glare at him.

"Don't scare me like that." She muttered through her teeth as she picked up her fork and took another bite, polishing off the tray of food. "Either way, I'm finished for the day. We'll hang out more tomorrow."

"You're gonna leave me?" He asked with mock hurt in his voice as they both smirked at the other before parting ways.

Afternoons was Nadri's more personal time as she napped in her room, letting Ska'Rix explore around the room and pick out the next trip destination they go to. "(Shurima Desert tomorrow?)" Ska asked as he hopped from the desk to the bed and poked the summoner gently to rouse her from her sleep.

"You know he's not gonna allow it." Kassadin was very specific over not wanting to take her there. "Pick somewhere else." The voidling chattered angrily as it skittered back to the desk and took another look at the map that was spread out.

The map was covered with small notes the girl made, detailing the pro's and con's of each place: Favorite spots, places to visit each time, places to avoid, ext. Ska took his time as he skittered over the cloth map, tapping his claws over places they haven't been to yet. "(We could go to Noxus, perhaps Freljord...)"

"Freljord isn't the best place to go at the moment, Ska." Nadri muttered as she turned on her side to face the voidling on the desk. "Wasn't there another place we haven't visited yet?" She couldn't quite place the name...

The voidling tilted it angular head at her before staring at the map again. "(Piltover?)"

"That's it, Piltover..." The name kinda slid off her tongue as if she's said it many times before, almost familiar. "We'll go there tomorrow then." If the name alone tugged something in her mind, maybe going there will help any old memories resurface.

* * *

Kassadin waited on the outside steps to the Institute as he waited for Nadri to show up. Every couple week, he would take her to a major city-state to satisfy her curiosity for what each place was like and if any of her memories would surface. She sent word last night with her voidling that Piltover would be today's destination of choice._ 'Not quite as hazardous as Zaun.'_ He thought to himself as he peered up to see the girl in her summoner robes sprinting lightly down the stairs to him.

"Am I late?" Nadri asked the Rift Walker as he shook his helmeted head at her.

"No, you're fine." He spied the tan hand bag she was carrying and found that the voidling was hiding inside of it as usual. "Shall we depart for the City of Progress?"

She nodded happily as she sided up next to him and gently gripped at his left arm. The young summoner has gotten use to the jumps through the Void while staying at Kassadin's side. With a slight surge forward, they disappeared into the nether space and quickly reappeared at what she saw was the edge of the city.

"Oh wow."

The sight of all the tall buildings made her speechless as she slowly let go of Kass's arm and took a couple steps forward. The Rift Walker chuckled as he glided behind her a bit, watching the awe struck summoner pick up speed and strolled into city limits.

While it was not as bright as Demacia nor as grey as Zaun, Piltover had a grand mix of the two as they wandered through the tall buildings, passing by various businesses and apartment homes. "I heard a lot of champions that come from here are great inventors, isn't that right?" Nadri inquired as she glanced up at Kassadin curiously.

"Some of those champions came here from other cities to improve their skills so that they may create better things for the future." He explained as they stopped at a small snack bar in the middle of the city. The Void Walker watched as the summoner slowly munched on a local pastry and, occasionally, slipping the hidden voidling a bite or two.

"Hey! If it isn't Mr. Void Walker!" Yelled out an unfamiliar voice as both Nadri and Kassadin turned to see a pink haired woman with giant metal gauntlets on her hands. Vi, the Piltover Enforcer, was striding up to her fellow champion as she looked up at him. "What brings you here?" She quickly inquired the Void Walker.

Kass motioned Nadri to keep going down the street as he met Vi halfway to greet her. "Keeping an eye on this one." He explained as he motioned to the summoner that was now a good twenty feet away from them, watching her gaze about at the buildings around them.

Vi looked to Nadri then back to Kassadin. "I thought it was Malzahar that you should be watching, not a summoner." She was right, but it wasn't something the Enforcer needs to know.

"It's just for a short time, Vi." Kassadin muttered as he faced his fellow champion with glowing yellow eyes. "She'll head back to the Institute soon after strolling though the city a bit more."

"Oh, alrighty. Sorry to bother you then, blue man." Vi gave Kassadin a heavy pat on the back with her gauntlet, making him stumble forward a bit.

He gave the Enforcer a bit of an irritated huff before gliding to catch up to the summoner, who was a good thrity feet away now.

Nadri's head would tilt a bit each time she looked around, hoping for a hint, but none came. It was frustrating. Her shoulders sagged a bit as they continued their stroll through Piltover. "If only..." She muttered softly before shaking her head of the thought.

Kassadin heard the words she whispered as he drifted up from behind her. and looked down at her now saddened form. "You could remember?" This startled the summoner as she glanced up at him before nodding.

"Yeah..." It wasn't what she was thinking, but it was close enough to agree with. The thought crossed her mind again as she looked up to Kassadin, looking a bit tired. "Perhaps I should just go back to the Institute. There seems to be nothing for me here as well." Nadri had a feeling about this city, she just didn't want to find that one spot so soon. Was she really was getting use to not remembering her past?

After backtracking though the city to the outskirts of Piltover, they ported back to the Institute. "Thank you for showing me around again, Kassadin." Nadri said gratefully to him as he gave her a short nod and rifted away, leaving her once more on the steps of the Institute.

* * *

It didn't take her very long to set up a personal match for herself after doing it so many times before. _'This needs to be done.'_ Nadri thought to herself bitterly as she focused on the summoning orb in front of her.

The visions of the champion's memories flashed before her eyes, flickering quickly through her mind till an ethereal voice whispered._ 'As was foreseen, 'summoner'.'_

Nadri swallowed hard as she was now looking down at Malzahar who was floating casually above the platform. _'Then you know why I summoned you then?'_ She inquired as the champion gave her a hollow laugh.

_'Of course. It was only a matter of time...'_ He intentionally trailed off as he smirked under his scarf, awaiting further orders from the summoner as she picked up a Doran's Ring for him and set him off down mid lane.

They spent a couple minutes in silence as the first couple minion waves filed out of the fountain till the summoner spoke. _ 'Malzahar, will you tell me what has happened to me?'_

A dark chuckle was heard just before he replied. _ 'I could tell you, but you'll learn in due time.'_ He mused to the girl, listening to her grumble to herself over his answer.

_'I don't want to find out later!'_ Nadri said angrily at the Prophet as she soon had him strike down their opponent. _'Tell me what happened that night!'_

_'Such a commanding voice you have.'_ Malzahar was intentionally avoiding the question and enjoying the frustration the summoner was going through as they fought their way through the jungle for some extra gold.

He was infuriating and Nadri was starting to make mistakes as she let Malzahar die a couple times against the swarming enemy team. _'Why won't you at least tell me why?'_ She pressed further in her quest for answers, listening to the champion's laugh once more.

_'Perhaps I should show you...'_ His voice trailed off again and sensed that the summoner's curiosity was starting to get the better of her as she willed him to hard push the middle lane to end this little match.

The match soon ended as Malzahar floated by the enemy's exploding nexus. _'Meet me by the outside garden area.'_ Nadri told him, hoping he would do so as she ended the summoning and left the halls, strolling to where she wanted him to meet her.

A familiar feeling tugged at the back of her mind as she waited for the Prophet to show up. Glancing around, she noticed there wasn't many other summoners around the area and the feeling started to get stronger. Her eyes shifted in the direction the feelings were coming from and saw what was causing the mental unrest.

Malzahar floated along the garden's path, ignoring the few summoners that started whispering or trying to get his attention. His ethereal blue eyes were focused on the summoner before him as he stopped just a couple feet short of Nadri. "You noticed my presence before seeing me, did you not, 'summoner'?" He asked curiously, scanning her slightly horrified and confused face. The Prophet smirked under his scarf at the speechless reaction of the girl. "Kassadin didn't explain to you how we can find one another. Pity he tried to hide it."

Nadri took a step back, cursing herself for not listening to the Rift Walker as she listened to Malzahar. "You said you'd show me something. What is it?" She breathed as she wrapped her arms across her chest, awaiting his response.

"The Void has specific plans for you. Ones you have to discover for yourself, I'm afraid." He told her as he started to 'play' with his dagger he kept by his side, watching the summoner's eyes widen as she looked upon the very object that carved the markings on her small body. "Though, what I can tell you is that we needed a summoner to represent the Void and you...were chosen."

Again, the girl was left speechless as she stood in front of him, mentally ranking her brain over what he's already told her. By representing, she was like the Void's personal summoner, like there are those from Demacia that summon only from their home town and allied states and excreta. "But why me, Malzahar? What is so special about me that the Void had to erase my previous life from my mind to be here as it's summoner?" She growled at him, retaking that step she lost back forward towards him, listening to him chuckle darkly at her attempt to be commanding.

"I only did what was asked of me. In the end, you fought to survive and became like Kassadin and myself. Someone to serve the Void."

"I will not serve the Void!"

It was Malzahar's turn to fall silent before he started to close the gap between them and grasped her small chin and lifted it up so they saw eye to ethereal eye. "You will in due time, my dear 'summoner'." He whispered darkly as he continued to grasp the girl's chin, still looking straight into her eyes. "The power the Void has given you isn't fully manifested, but when it does, I'll be awaiting your presence at my side." His voice was dripping with dark intentions as he watched her tremble and shake her head at his statement.

"That will not happen!" Nadri pulled away quickly, stumbling a bit as she put the space between them once more and glared at the Prophet. "If you won't help me, then I will do it myself." She muttered at him quickly before turning on her heels and started to walk away from him towards the Summoner's Quarters. Walking away wasn't helping as Malzahar followed the disgruntled summoner all the way till she stopped in front of her room door. She turned to face him once more, still glaring up at him. "Was there something else you wish to mock me with?" She spat venomously at him as he just gave her a chuckle.

"I will suggest to you one thing...to help you in your...'quest'." He said as he evaluated her reaction before continuing. "When you have the time, go to Icathia. The Void will look forward to speaking with you on a personal bases than it has been trying to do." He mused to her, watching her raise an eye brow at his suggestion.

"Icathia, huh? Now why would I go to where I would most certainly lose myself?"

Malzahar gave her a cold stare before replying. "It was merely a suggestion that would benefit you." And the Void.

Nadri's mouth twitched a bit in irritation before turning back around to face her door. "I'll think about it." With that, the nervous feeling she had around him disappeared as she glanced over to find he was gone from sight.

_'Icathia, the lost city and home to where the Void would be._' This really was a troubling thought as she walked inside her plain room and locked it behind her. The voidling, Ska'Rix was resting on one of her pillows and gave her a sleepy chitter before dozing back off to sleep. 'I wonder if Ska will stay there if we go?'

With a quick shake of her head, she quietly shuffled over to her writing desk and gazed down at the giant cloth map and ran her hand over the right side of it till she found the spot labeled 'Icathia'. Nadri sighed as she picked up her red pen and circled it and placed a large question mark over it. _'Maybe someday, but not now.'_


End file.
